Babylon is balanced on a knife’s edge.
During the events of Babylon Red, a rogue experiment nearly wiped out the megalopolis. Although the New Gods temporarily put aside their differences to deal with an eldritch abomination, they recognize that at least one faction has to power to destroy the city—and likely the world—entirely by accident. That faction isn’t powerful enough to dominate the world, but they can make sure no one else can rule over the ashes.
To counterbalance that faction, all the other factions are seeking an edge. They want as much manpower, firepower, and superpowers before the inevitable showdown. And they are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
Every faction is moving to consolidate their turf and gobble up new territory. What was once neutral ground is now a hunting ground, with Speakers and Elect competing for control over every street and every block. The mortal authorities are sidelined, the private armies of the New Gods moving openly in the daylight. Every escalation triggers a greater escalation, provoking an even greater escalation.
The New Gods fear that their rivals will kick off the next great war. By their actions, they create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In this milieu, what can Yuri Yamamoto and his team do?
This is the fundamental dilemma the team faces. If they do nothing, the New Gods will run roughshod over the world. If they act, they might trigger the war everybody fears. There are no good options left. Only those that lead to survival.
The threshold is critical. The New Gods have a thousand priorities. For all their resources, they cannot be everywhere at once. They will devote the majority of their resources to address what they perceive as their most important priorities. All the other problems will be assigned just enough resources for the local Elect and/or Speakers to resolve.
Team Black Watch are near the top of the New Gods’ blacklist. They are not at the top. There is no doubt that the New Gods could easily crush the STS with overwhelming numbers and firepower if they so choose—but doing this would draw resources away from other strategic problems, effectively ceding ground to their rivals. And the only thing the New Gods hate worse than conceding to a human is to concede to a rival.
This is the secret of survival: so long as the STS operates below the threshold needed to trigger a full-scale response, they will not draw an overwhelming response. Whatever forces the New Gods will inevitably muster against them can either be defeated or evaded. While the New Gods could deploy a larger force package against the STS to destroy them, they also know that the STS will inevitably force them to pay a high price in blood and treasure—a price they cannot afford to pay, not when they have to constantly keep their rivals in check.
On the flip side, the STS can’t stay below the threshold forever. They are tiny flies biting at Leviathan—but Leviathan can afford to lose far more blood than the STS. The STS can wipe out an entire platoon of troops in one night and the New Gods can replace them the following week. Every loss the STS incurs is irreplaceable.
Where does that leave Yuri Yamamoto?
One option is to continue to mount small-scale actions against the New Gods. But these are small and insignificant. They may annoy the New Gods—but do little else. The New Gods can simply accept the losses as the price of doing business and carry on.
The second is to create leverage. Striking critical targets to create outsized effects, and accept the increased risk of a greater response. While an integral component of guerilla warfare, in the end, there are only so few STS shooters, and so many soldiers of the New Gods.
Then there is the third option: recruitment. To bring in more allies, to inspire more people to take up the cause, to shift public opinion away from the New Gods. The most potent way to do this is to demonstrate the weakness of the New Gods and their own strength. It is propaganda of the deed, written in the blood of monsters.
This is the main narrative thrust of Babylon Red. War is coming. Everyone is gearing up for it. There is no way to prevent it. All that can be done now is to choose a side, gather your allies, and get ready to ride out the inevitable. No matter who wins, one thing is for sure:
Babylon will burn.
Check out Babylon Black here.
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